


Never Alone Never Again

by KittiePhanatic



Series: Inspired Works and Prompt Fills [5]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Gen, Good Sibling Diego Hargreeves, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Klaus Hargreeves Needs Help, Pre-Canon, Protective Diego Hargreeves, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:13:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 5,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25421455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittiePhanatic/pseuds/KittiePhanatic
Summary: Prompt:Diego listens to police scanners due to his vigilante night time activities. One night he hears the dispatcher saying that a drug addict is trying to commit suicide. This hits home for Diego, due to his brother Klaus’ relationship with both drugs and death, so he goes to check it out. When he sees the police are there he is about to leave when he sees who the person about to kill themself is. It’s Klaus, his little brother (I say that the numbers are similar to their relationship, like Luther is the oldest, Vanya the youngest, and Klaus the middle child). He gets past the police and confronts his brother. I want Diego to try and guilt Klaus out of doing this by saying, “how and I supposed to tell our younger sister that all three of her favorite siblings are dead!” (By this I mean Vanya.) (This is pre-canon and they believe Five to be dead despite Klaus not being able to contact him). I would really like two POVs to this. One of Diego, and another of the cops, the cops being all confused when Diego calls him number 4 or séance.Needless to say, trigger warnings.  Be safe.
Relationships: Ben Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Eudora Patch, Diego Hargreeves & Klaus Hargreeves, Diego Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves & Vanya Hargreeves
Series: Inspired Works and Prompt Fills [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1840210
Comments: 10
Kudos: 261





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kaya_mckay](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaya_mckay/gifts).



> Me: I must stop adding new TUA fics so close to the second season.
> 
> Also Me: I'm going to do a prompt fill from a year-and-a-half ago.
> 
> ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
> 
> So, I decided to do a prompt fill which already has multiple works published here. I have only been on ao3 about a year and had pondered the idea of doing my own take, and then today I impulsively decided to get one started. I will do my best to comply with all details of the prompt while providing my own originality to the story.
> 
> Set in 2014.

Diego Hargreeves had just finished mopping the floor of the gym. It had been a successful boxing night for him and he was five months richer. As Al had wrapped things up and closed the gym Diego had enough time to shower and grab a bite to eat before fulfilling his obligation in exchange for the boiler room…his home. It could be worse. He had a roof over his head and he had fixed it up to look semi-decent. Of course, his most important memento was the framed cross-stitch of his name with his Umbrella Academy Domino mask applied within, by his mother. He often wondered about her. He hadn't been back to the Academy mansion since he'd left seven years ago, several months shy of his eighteenth birthday. 

Diego grabbed his police radio from the edge of the boxing ring and headed to his room to get his knife harness so to start his more important job, his vigilanté work. So far it had been a slow night…well, not call-wise; just public intox, domestic disputes, shit like that. But no burglaries, armed robberies or worse. But that had allowed him to finish mopping without interruption. Al had been on his ass threatening to kick him out again. But so long as he did his job on boxing nights, he knew it wouldn't happen.

He had just made it to the bottom of the steps of his place when the radio sounded off the familiar white noise. "All units be advised: we have a 10-56A, Argyle Bridge. Subject described as white male, six feet, dark hair, slim build with long coat and black leather pants. Subject is possible 10-50."

_Shit._ Diego's heart skipped a beat. That sounded just like him. His brother whom he hadn't seen in over a year…not long before Diego had gotten kicked out of the Police Academy. Of course, Diego knew the codes: 10-56A was suicide attempt and 10-50 meant under the influence of narcotics.

Klaus could possibly be getting ready to jump off the bridge. 

Diego remained still for a few more seconds as he heard responses from nearby officers. He recognized Eudora Patch's voice; she was only a few blocks away. He did a quick 180 and raced back up the stairs and out the rear exit where his car was parked. He revved the engine and sped away toward the Argyle District.

As he quickly began navigating through the city streets while listening to communication regarding setting the perimeter along each end of the bridge, Diego kept trying to convince himself that it could be anyone. He _was_ living in a metropolis, after all. But the more he had tried convincing himself otherwise, the more fearful he became. His gut instinct had never proven him wrong before. But when it came to such a critical situation as this, _was_ it that or overreaction based on those fears? That, plus the overwhelming guilt as he maneuvered the streets?

He had given Klaus an ultimatum after dragging Klaus out of a drug house where he had been staying, most likely providing services in exchange for drugs: go to rehab, or Diego was done with him. Of course, Klaus had said he had been forced to take the rehab route before and no dice.

He had thought he had done the right thing at the time…or at least he had tried convincing himself. He was training to be a cop, after all! And Eudora kept saying not to enable his brother whenever Diego would bring him up.

And then not long after, Diego started seeing the bureaucracy within the PD and started questioning it. He challenged his superiors. Said quite a few things that didn't land him in jail but showed the Department he was _not_ the right person for the job. _Bullshit! I would be right if you assholes did things like you fucking know you're supposed to!_ And that's what got him escorted out. And, of course, Eudora broke up with him.

However, he did still have a few buddies on the force. There were times that they had no choice but to arrest him when he crossed the line with his vigilantism, but they ultimately knew that Diego fought for justice and helped many.

Diego's stomach churned as he heard Eudora relay how the subject was covering his ears and screaming to go away. Diego had sometimes noticed that when Klaus would awaken screaming from a nightmare when they were growing up. Ben would always go to him. Ben had died a few months before everyone left the Academy. Everyone except Luther, that was. Diego _had_ to get there _immediately._ He was just a couple of miles away.

What was likely much longer to him than it actually was, Diego sped past the Argyle Library and quickly rounded the corner several blocks away to the road leading towards the bridge. He instantly saw the flashing red-and-blues in the distance. He floored the engine and soon abruptly skidded to a halt in the lot next to the knoll along the south end of the bridge. As he ran toward the barrier of police he could see the figure standing on the beam above the road along the east side of the bridge about thirty yards away. His heart sank.

It really was him.

He immediately spotted Eudora with several other officers at the bridge entrance. He raced toward her.

"Diego!" She quickly grabbed hold of him, keeping him from running further. "You can't be here!"

"That's my brother!" Diego cried. 

Eudora kept her grip on him. "The one you told me about?"

"Yes!" Diego exclaimed desperately. "Let me talk to him!"

Eudora quickly nodded to the other officers. "Let him through." She let go of him.

As he rushed along the empty road toward the disheveled wild-haired man swaying ever so slightly, Diego's thoughts raced as he frantically pondered what to say. He stopped abruptly just a few feet away.

"Klaus! It's me," Diego said with urgency.

" _Nononono…go away…go away…Nononononononono…."_ Klaus repeated with quivering voice.

Diego swallowed the painful lump in his throat. His heart was shattering at the sight of his normally snarky and flamboyant brother in such turmoil. "Klaus!" It took all he had to sound enormously stronger that he felt at this moment. "It's me, Diego!"

Klaus continued his mantra. He seemed completely disoriented, disconnected from the world around him. Diego tightened his lips as he thought of something else. He took a deep breath.

" _NUMBER FOUR!_ "

Klaus froze. He slowly lowered one hand from his ear while using the other hand to grasp the metal side beam to turn and face Diego.

Diego was devastated as he observed the bloodshot eyes, dark circles, and streaks of tears mixed with eyeliner that plagued his brother's pale, gaunt, expressionless face.

For a moment Klaus stared blankly at him. Then his eyes widened as his eyebrows furrowed. "Go _away!_ " He screamed.

"Klaus," Diego said firmly, still desperately fighting to keep his composure. "Please talk to me."

"Since when do you give a fucking rat's ass about me?!" Klaus laughed bitterly. "Just _go the fuck away!_ "

"I'm not going anywhere," Diego said with authority. 

"Just leave me alone!" Tears welled up in Klaus' eyes as his laughing promptly turned to heaving sobs. "I know I'm just a fucking worthless disappointment! I've always known! Just a worthless fucking junkie! You told me so yourself and you are _right!_ "

"No, I was wrong!" Diego quickly objected, hoping so terribly that Klaus would believe him. "Please. Let me help you!"

"You were right!" Klaus cried. " _You were fucking right and you know it! Everyone does!!! GO THE GODDAMN FUCK AWAY!!!_ "

Diego tried in utter anguish to find the right words to say. It killed him to know how hopeless his brother felt and the extent that he despised himself, and especially in whatever way Diego had contributed to it; not just within the past year, but throughout their lives, from back when they were kids. Instantly a thought occurred to him.

"What about Vanya?"

Klaus blinked. Diego felt a glimmer of hope. But he quickly reverted back to rage. "She couldn't care less! None of our so-called family ever has! You know as well as I do! Dad always said I was his greatest disappointment! Too fucking weak! Always useless! That's all I've ever been! All I am now!" Klaus turned back to overlooking the river beneath the bridge.

The fear rose excruciatingly in Diego. "How am I supposed to explain to our baby sister that now all of her three favorite siblings are dead?"

Number Five had disappeared a little over a month after their thirteenth birthday. Diego now more than ever hated their father for repeatedly giving Klaus shit for never having been able to conjure Five. Everyone had wanted to believe that Five was alive; but if so, he should have been able to time-travel back. Even if Five couldn't have done so until he were an old man. Even if no one could have recognized him, all he would have had to do was say anything that only Vanya would know.

Diego watched as Klaus' shoulders heaved. "She won't care," he whimpered quietly.

"Yes, she would."

Klaus grabbed the side beam and pivoted to Diego again. "For once in your life, quit lying to me!"

Diego could no longer suppress the painful lump in his throat as his own tears began rolling. "I'm n-not lu-lu- _lying_ to you." Damn stutter. "And I c-c-can't lose you! You're m-m-mu-my _only_ favorite sibling!"

"Shut up!" Klaus' voice also broke even more. "Just shut the fuck up! All I've ever done is let everyone down!"

" _NO!_ " Diego sobbed, much against his better judgment. "I was the one who l-l-l-let _you_ d-d-down! P-p-p-p-p-please let me make it right!"

Klaus stood there, his breath hitching as tears continued streaming down his face. "I can't. I won't. You were right. It's okay, all right? I understand completely. It's all my fault. It's always been my fault."

" _NO!_ " Diego cried. "B-but won't t-t-t-t-turn my back on you again! I p-p-p-promise!"

Klaus covered his face with his free hand as his shoulders shook harder. Diego covered his own mouth as his eyes remained fixated on Klaus he prayed to whatever Supreme Being(s) existed that he was getting through to his shattered little brother.

Diego held out his hand. "P-p-please. Come here."

Klaus slowly lowered his hand as he looked at Diego through reddened eyes. The few seconds could have been hours to Diego as he desperately waited for Klaus to respond.

But Klaus reached out and grasped his hand. Diego pulled and Klaus jumped down to the road. They both dropped down to the street as Diego threw his arms around his brother and pulled him close. They both wept uncontrollably. 

"I love you, brother." Diego held him tightly. "I'm so, so sorry."


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, please heed the tags.
> 
> I do unfortunately have an experience with such a loss. An "adopted dad" in my life made this choice. His daughter had told me just a couple of weeks before that he was struggling with depression. His family has since raised awareness about depression and suicide within the (Not-So-Much United States of America).

Eudora Patch sat in her apartment, staring at her paperwork. She had opted to bring it home, rather than trying to fill it out at the office, since the latter would have required overtime compensation. It would not have been fair to the PD. Normally she would have filled it out in a timely manner. But this was more personal to her; not just because this was Diego's brother. 

She recalled pushing Diego to do the "tough love" thing, after having known how effective drug rehab had been for her cousin. 

Megan had been Eudora's best friend growing up. Eudora's aunt had basically been her mother, since Eudora's own mother had died from cancer when she was seven years old. Then, Megan went down a different road in high school. After a few years of watching Megan go down a destructive path, her family staged an intervention of which Eudora was a part. Megan had cried and screamed, played the victim card, etc., but it was the best thing that could have been done for her. Next month, hopefully, Megan would celebrate three years of being clean.

It was Megan's success story that had prompted Eudora to talk Diego into the "tough love" aspect when they were together over a year ago. Eudora couldn't count the number of times that Diego would express his frustration about the one sibling with whom he had chosen to stay in contact. But tonight, as she observed the interaction between the two brothers, she realized how far off the mark she could have been about Klaus Hargreeves. 

She had heard about the Umbrella Academy siblings growing up, of course. However, any attempts she had tried getting Diego to talk about anything regarding his childhood seemed to have been a lost cause. However, one thing stood out as she observed the dialogue between the two brothers. 

According to Klaus, he was their father's greatest disappointment. Their father had straight out said that to him.

She thought back to her other best friend in high school. The friend's mother had said the same thing to her. Eudora was just a teenager who didn't know how to call for help when her friend had said that life was hopeless. This was one among many reasons why Eudora became a police officer. She wanted to help provide people a purpose for living. 

Right now, though, as she stared at the paperwork before her, Eudora questioned whether what she was doing was correct. She was already noticing the PD bearacuacy. Not within her fellow public servants, but within the administration. Nonetheless, she had to do her job. She took a deep breath and applied her pen to paper.

However, Eudora knew that she and her former boyfriend would need to have some sort of discussion once the dust settled. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Diego slowly led his brother into his apartment. He looked uneasily at his disheveled brother, not certain if he had wanted to say anything about Klaus' physical appearance. Klaus was a bit smelly, Diego noted; and Klaus had often prided on his prestine physical appearance before. 

Thankfully to Diego, Klaus muttered, "I guess I should wash up," soon after they entered.

Diego didn't have much for Klaus, of course; his own clothes were much too large for his frail brother. But Klaus was safe for tonight; more importantly, he saved Klaus from jumping off the fucking bridge. And he needed to get to the bottom of why Klaus would try to do this in the first place. 

Diego stayed with Klaus in the gym shower room, of course. No chance of Klaus trying to escape, in this case. That, plus, the shower's hot water ran for only ten minutes anyway. And, of course, within that time frame Klaus was done. As Diego handed Klaus his clothing, he was able to look directly into the eyes of his brother.

Klaus' pupils were not dilated. He was clean…for right now, anyway. 

Diego led his brother back into the apartment. After helping Klaus to the bed, Diego searched through the fridge to find something for Klaus to eat. Diego had a carton of eggs, but he normally ate them raw, himself. He quickly searched his pantry. Normally he would have had canned goods stocked in case Klaus would stop by, but the last time Klaus had done so was over a year ago. 

Thankfully, Diego found a can of soup and microwaved it for his brother. He watched as Klaus gingerly ate the soup. Once done, Klaus put the bowl aside. 

"Can I sit with you?" Diego cautiously approached his brother. 

Klaus nodded. Diego hesitantly slipped on the bed beside him.

"So, talk to me, man," Diego reluctantly placed his hand on Klaus' shoulder.

"You don't wanna know."

Diego squeezed his hand on his brother's shoulder. He knew that he probably didn't want to know the depth of what could have been the father's most worse abuse on a child. He had hated to admit the amount of denial that he had held in as a kid. He sighed. "Yes, I do."

It turned out that Diego was right. The more that Diego learned about Sir Reginald's abuse to Klaus as a child (what "father" locks a kid in a mausoleum as young as eight years old?!) the more he grew to hate the man he had tried to please his entire life.


	3. Chapter 3

Ben sat sadly in Diego's home as he observed Klaus crying himself to sleep in his brother's arms.

Two days before, Ben had given Klaus the same ultimatum Diego had over a year ago. After seven years of being dead, he'd had it with Klaus pissing his life away. He'd been sick of seeing Klaus give himself up, doing whatever he could for his next fix. He was particularly jealous that Klaus hadn't needed to fight like the other Academy siblings; all that Klaus had to do was summon the ghosts of the victims for intel on the bad guys they were fighting at the time. He actually had resented his brother for that.

And yet now, watching Klaus asleep on Diego's chest, Ben wished that he could take back everything he had said the other night. Above other things, he had called Klaus a colossal wimp. Just like their "father," who had said that Klaus was his greatest disappointment. Since Ben was pretty much with Klaus since Ben had died, he should have seen the warning signs that Klaus was in such turmoil. 

At the same time, Ben was also grateful for Diego.  _ Finally _ , Ben no longer had to deal with Klaus on his own. Although Ben knew that Klaus really needed to seek professional help, at least Klaus knew for certain that he was not alone. And Klaus was…what, two or three days clean now?

Ben shuddered as he thought back to the other night. Klaus had gone to that place wanting to provide service in exchange for drugs. Once the guy'd had his way with Klaus, however, he'd left the drug house without compensating Klaus. When Klaus had come to, in search of drugs, Ben had said he'd finally had enough of Klaus' destructive behavior. 

He had known about Klaus' training in the mausoleum. He had believed his "father" when he had complained about Klaus "poisoning himself." But everyone in the afterlife whom Ben had encountered were physically perfect. Ben had no idea until watching Klaus talk to Diego about how  _ bad _ the ghosts looked. He had no idea that they had appeared to Klaus like how they had died. For Klaus to have encountered this throughout his childhood? Doing drugs was  _ still _ not the answer, but now Ben could understand more why Klaus chose that route. 

Hopefully Diego could help Klaus in the way that Ben couldn't. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Both Diego and Klaus were startled awake by pounding on the former's door. Diego stumbled out of bed and up the stairs to open the door to Al.

"I ain't your damn secretary," Al barked as he thrust a piece of paper in Diego's hand. "This call came in for you." With that, Al slammed the door as Diego observed the note:  _ PATCH. COME TO STATION ASAP. _

Shit. He looked at Klaus. Diego knew he'd had some explaining to do. He had been able to convince Eudora to let Klaus come home with him rather than check Klaus into the hospital for a suicide watch as was normal protocol. But her parting words last night were correct. Diego couldn't handle this on his own. He could suspend his vigilanté work, but boxing earned him a living and he had to mop the stupid floors to guarantee him an actual place to live. He couldn't look after Klaus 24/7.

"Hey, Klaus. Come upstairs with me, okay?"

And that was how Diego contacted the only other living sibling whose name he had brought up last night. And Diego dropped his brother off at Vanya's while he headed to the police station. 


	4. Chapter 4

_ Chapter Four _

_ Number Four _

_ Number Four is Klaus, whose superpower is to conjure the dead. When he's sober, that is. Out of all of the siblings, Klaus has taken the most destructive path.  _

_ As a child, Klaus was charming, but also the gentlest. He would be the first to comfort me when I skinned my knee. The other guys, and sometimes Allison, would laugh at me for crying over that when they had to deal with their extensive training. But not Klaus. _

_ In my prologue I mentioned the other kids getting tattoos while I observed them from the stairway. Klaus was first in line to get it over with. Allison was next, and I admired Klaus for comforting her after she was done, despite the excruciating pain he must have been in. _

_ Then, the day that Number Five disappeared. It had torn my world apart. Klaus found me crying in my bedroom that night. Again, the other siblings kept straight faces as though nothing had happened. Klaus said nothing, just sat on the edge of his bed and held me. That was the only time that he had spent the night in my room. _

_ Not long after the Umbrella Academy was officially introduced was when Klaus first started drinking. A fan eventually introduced him to marijuana. I don't know how Klaus had gotten on the harder stuff, especially considering the amount of surveillance footage around the house. And yet he still managed to sneak out at night. _

_ Of course, this angered Sir Reginald Hargreeves. I think that besides myself, who has no powers, Klaus was deemed my father's greatest disappointment. And Klaus went much further off the rails after Ben died. Ben was Klaus' best friend, with Diego close behind; and I highly doubt that Klaus has been able to conjure Ben since Ben died. _

_ The last time I saw Klaus was about three years ago, on the streets and strung out. To this day I don't think he even remembers our conversation.  _

Vanya's typing was interrupted by the phone ringing. She thought of letting the machine take her call; however, she had a student coming in half an hour, but maybe her mom was calling to cancel. So she answered it.

"Vanya?" A vaguely familiar male voice spoke.

"Yes, this is Vanya."

"Hey…um, this is Diego."

Well! Vanya had never expected to hear his voice. "My brother Diego?"

"Yeah. Hey, listen. I know it's been a long time, but I need to ask you a favor."

Vanya hesitated, knowing what she had written about him in her autobiography thus far. What the hell would he want from her after all of these years?! She swallowed. "What's that?"

"Well, I've got Klaus staying with me, but I need to head to the police station. But I don't want to leave him alone."

Vanya was taken aback. She wanted to ask,  _ Is he high? _ She certainly couldn't have an adult in her apartment under the influence when her student showed up. "Uh, I have to teach a violin lesson soon."

Vanya heard the sigh. "Can you maybe cancel your lesson?"

_ So not only has he blown me off since we were kids, now you want to ask a favor of me? _

However, before Vanya could respond, Diego started explaining something disturbing to her. Within a few minutes they hung up, and then Vanya called the mother of the student to apologize for the short notice, but she had a family emergency. Then she put her typewriter in her room and the manuscript in her dresser drawer. The irony that she was writing about Klaus and he was now on his way over.

Fifteen minutes later Klaus was sitting on her living room couch. She had no idea what to say to her only favorite sibling still left alive.

"Diego thinks I need to be babysat," Klaus sighed after Diego left.

"Well, he  _ did _ save you from jumping off a bridge last night," Vanya chuckled awkwardly, observing his brother's green eyes in that, for once, his pupils weren't dilated. She didn't quite know what else to say to him. Of course, social awkwardness ran rampant in her so-called "family." She'd better cut right to the chase. "So, why, Klaus?"

"I really don't want to talk about it," Klaus sighed. "I already hashed it out with Diego last night."

Vanya sighed also. Of course, he would talk to Diego. He and Vanya hadn't had much in common since puberty; Allison and he were much closer due to their fashion sense. But, of course, Allison was now in L.A. and who knew what Luther was doing. "I'm sorry," she said timidly. 

"It's just…you wouldn't understand. You didn't have to go through the training that we did."

_ Thanks for the reminder that I'm ordinary.  _ Now Vanya wished nothing more than to have her student there. She couldn't wait for Klaus to leave so she could continue writing her book. But maybe she needed to figure out  _ what _ kind of training Klaus had. Especially since Klaus never had to fight on missions. "I'm sorry," Vanya repeated. "I just…I just want to understand."

Klaus laughed bitterly. "Oh? What do you want to understand? How Dad locked me up in a mausoleum when we were eight?"

Vanya sat in shock across from her brother. 

Meanwhile, Klaus continued, "Or that he called me his greatest disappointment?"

Vanya was speechless for a moment. "I…I didn't know," she stammered.

For not having wanted to say anything, Klaus was now very talkative about his training. Vanya's eyes widened as she listened to her brother detail how the ghosts looked. No wonder he did drugs. Vanya took anti-anxiety meds herself as she had most of her life. She was dependent on them. She couldn't imagine what torture her brother endured. 

Vanya took Klaus' hand. "I'm so sorry," she whispered. 

"By the way, I should let you know how Diego talked me down last night."

"How?" Vanya wondered. 

After hearing Klaus' answer, she was now more than ever grateful that she had taken Diego's phone call. 


	5. Chapter 5

"Okay, I'm here," Diego waltzed up to Eudora's desk, apparently startling her.

"Well, good to see you, too. I wasn't sure if your boss would give you the message. He seemed pretty pissed that I'd called."

"Oh, forget Al. His bark's a hell of a lot worse than his bite."

"So, how's your brother?" Eudora asked.

"Fine so far. He's at my sister's."

Eudora jerked her head back. "Wait. I thought your sister was in L.A."

"Oh, no. My other sister, Vanya."

"What?" Eudora said, shocked. "I thought the Umbrella Academy consisted of you five boys and Allison. You never told me about her." Then Eudora stopped. "Wait, was that who you were talking about last night, with your brother?"

Diego nodded. "Vanya doesn't have superpowers so she never joined us on missions."

"That explains it," Eudora said, "but now you need to explain something to me. What was that you called him, 'Number Four'? That broke him out of whatever dissociation he was in."

Diego sighed. "Our dad gave us numbers, Number One through Seven, and that was how he would ever call us."

Eudora looked taken aback. "Seriously? How do you have your names, then?"

"Our mom named us."

Eudora nodded. Of course their mom did. Diego never talked much about his family, but he did say how much he loved his mother.

"And Klaus…what was he doing? I assumed at the time that he was on drugs, of course, until after you talked him down.

Diego sighed. "Well, you know that his superpower is talking to the dead. And until last night I didn't realize how much his superpower fucked him up." Diego went on to explain the awful details of Klaus' training. "That's why he started using drugs."

Eudora sat back in her chair. "Holy shit. No wonder. But hey, he's clean now, right?"

"Yeah, he's been clean since at least yesterday."

"So, what does this mean about his superpower?" Eudora wondered. "If he continues to stay clean? I mean, you want that for him, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Diego admitted. "I guess help him through it. But I'm never turning my back on him again."

Eudora looked guiltily at him. "Diego, about that---"

Diego held up his hand. "Forget it."

"Well, I understand more why rehab would not be a viable option for him. I mean, when my cousin went in they gave her suboxone to help with the withdrawals, but she was weaned off soon afterward. So, how are you going to help Klaus stay clean?"

Diego shrugged. "I'll have to figure it out."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Half an hour later Diego returned to Vanya's to find his brother crying in his sister's arms. Diego sat on the other side of Klaus and placed his hand on Klaus' shoulder. 

"I never knew," Vanya pulled away from Klaus quietly. "All the hell you went through, I didn't know."

At that moment, Klaus' hands turned a bright blue.  _ What the fuck is happening now? _ Diego wondered. 

And the next thing he knew, Ben was standing before them.

" _ Ben?! _ " Diego and Vanya exclaimed simultaneously. Klaus seemed equally surprised. 

"Yep." Ben smiled at his shocked siblings. 

"Holy shit!" Klaus exclaimed, staring at his hands and then at Ben. "I never knew I could do this!!!"

Vanya quickly jumped up and hugged her long-lost brother. "Oh, my God! I've missed you!"

"I can't stay for long, because I'll drain Klaus of his strength." Ben then looked at Klaus. "But I wanted to apologize for leaving you the other night." He then addressed the other two siblings' confused facial expressions. "Klaus has always been able to conjure me, but this is his first time actually manifesting me." He turned back to Klaus. "All those years…I never knew how bad it was for you with your training."

Klaus nodded. "It's okay. I mean, you were right. You've been dead while watching me piss my life away."

"As hard as it may be, please try to stay clean," Ben told Klaus. 

"How about we go to the mansion and give our dear old dad the shock of his life?" Klaus grinned. 

"Let's not," Ben said. "Because I'd be tempted to use my power on him."

"And if Ben didn't, I'd throw my knives at the bastard," Diego said bitterly. 

"Okay. I love you all. You'll see me again soon." With that, Ben vanished. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Klaus (and Ben) wound up spending the night with Vanya. After she started a fire in the fireplace, Vanya pulled out her unfinished manuscript and tossed it in. No way in hell she would get it published now.

Vanya was grateful to have her two favorite siblings back. And since Klaus had obviously not been able to conjure Five, it gave her hope that he may someday return as well.


End file.
